Freshman engineers seize the wind…and a new opportunity

May 29, 2007

Inspired to reinvigorate his teaching after a yearlong sabbatical, electrical and computer engineering professor Giri Venkataramanan decided to try an experiment. During spring semester 2007, he challenged the freshman in his introductory engineering class to build a functioning wind turbine from scratch. The stated goal was to generate power. But by the course’s end, the students had also gained critical hands-on skills, team experience – and a powerful understanding of what it means to be an engineer.